EW! A Blog.

Better head down to Voodoo Doughnuts for that bacon doughnut now, because there's a bacon shortage being predicted for next year. A Chicago Tribune business story cited a Bloomberg report that the pig supply is dropping to record lows. The Tribune says:

Blame the drought conditions that blazed through the corn and soybean crop this year. Less feed led to herds declining across the European Union “at a significant rate,” according to the National Pig Assn. in Britain.

And the trend “is being mirrored around the world,” according to a release (hat tip to the Financial Times)

…

In U.S. warehouses, pork supply soared to a record last month, rising 31% to 580.8 million pounds at the end of August from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The surge came as farmers scaled down their herds as feeding the animals became increasingly expensive.

That's right, high feed prices mean that young pigs are being killed now and not saved for later bacon. (We will let the question of whether the pigs are being honored and apologized to before being slaughtered slide for another occaision. Bacon, like chicken is part of the circle of life, right?)

Bloomberg reports in a story headlined "Pig Slaughter Shrinks Supply to 1975 Low in Drought":

U.S. hog farmers are slaughtering animals at the fastest pace since 2009 as a surge in feed costs spurs the biggest losses in 14 years, signaling smaller herds next year and a rebound in pork prices

"Look, these people they're f*cking retarded. Rape can't cause pregnancy? Breastmilk cures homosexuality? I caused a hurricane by challenging creationism? Who can possibly take these people seriously anymore?"

"...Now they don't even believe in egg + sperm = baby. Where does Todd Akin think babies come from? Does he think there are separate storks for people who were raped and people who weren't? "

"Hey look at me! I'm the rape stork. I drop off all my babies directly at the orphanage."

"He's a f*cking idiot. Just a plain f*cking idiot. I'm sorry - I don't say that word very often - but it happens to fit in this case. He's just a f*cking idiot."

"So Todd I got an offer for you. You and me. Any time. Any place. Debating sciencemano-a-mano. I'll bring the facts, and you bring the Vaseline. Because your ass is gonna f*cking need it when I'm done whipping."

He DID post a video on YouTube saying parents shouldn't teach Creationism.

Even more fun, Nye appears in a Symphony of Science video on climate change with David Attenborough, Richard Alley and Isaac Asimov.

For more science music autotuning go to http://www.symphonyofscience.com/

Hundreds of patients who rely on medical marijuana, and their supporters, will hold rallies today (Sept. 20) at Obama campaign offices and elsewhere in at least 15 cities in eight states across the country. In Eugene the rally will be at noon in front of the U.S. Courthouse at 405 E. 8th Ave.

The rallies are “an effort to draw attention to the Obama administration's aggressive efforts to shut down legal medical marijuana grow sites and dispensaries, obstructing the passage of laws that would regulate such activity,” according to organizers who include Jim Greig locally. A rally is planned today at the nation's Capitol, and demonstrations organized by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) are planned in the Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.

Former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has officially endorsed Measure 80 on the November ballot that would replace Oregon’s system of marijuana prohibition with a taxation-and-regulation model that would allow adults 21 and older to purchase cannabis at state-licensed stores only.

"Our nation’s war on drugs has really been, for decades now, a war on Americans of color and our poorest, most vulnerable citizens, and the ban on agricultural hemp has been the collateral damage," says Bradbury in a press release Sept. 19 from Roy Kaufmann at Yes on 80.

Bradbury served 14 years in the Oregon Legislature before serving two terms as Oregon’s secretary of state. "I urge my fellow Oregonians to vote yes on Measure 80, which is an historic opportunity to show our fellow Americans a way to end the failed drug war, begin a new, sensible approach to marijuana, and restore hemp to our farmers and hi-tech entrepreneurs for biofuel, textiles, and advanced manufacturing,” he says.

Oregon is already among the nation’s biggest importers of hemp. But, under the current set of marijuana and hemp laws, hemp-product companies in Oregon are forced to import their raw hemp oil and fiber from countries like China, which makes those Oregon-made products less cost-competitive, says Kaufmann. Measure 80 would allow Oregon farmers to grow hemp to be sold to Oregon’s hemp food, biofuel, and textile companies, which would keep money in our economy and create many living-wage jobs around the state.

“When we repeal marijuana prohibition, we remove the number one barrier to re-introducing agricultural hemp into our sustainable economy,” says Yes on 80 chief petitioner Paul Stanford. “With one simple act of voting yes on 80, Oregon voters can end the drug war, regulate marijuana responsibly, and restore hemp for farmers and small business.”

Stephen King announced on his website today that the sequel to The Shining will be released Sept. 24, 2013. King will bring the child character, Danny Torrence (the Esp-gifted/cursed kid who bikes around the Overlook Hotel), back to life in Doctor Sleep, as a middle-aged hospice employee who finds his supernatural powers still come in handy. Here's to 36 years in the making!

Tonight at 5 pm, ODOT is holding a Oregon Passenger Rail project open house at the Atrium Building, 99 W 10th Ave, to talk about the possibility of high-speed rail between Portland and Eugene. For more information, check out www.oregonpassengerrail.org

EDITOR'S NOTE: Looks like there have been some delays. He is expected to hold a press conference at 9 am Wednesday at the Lane County Elections Office, 275 W. 10th Ave. in Eugene. Not sure about his Corvallis plans at this point. Call (916) 320-6430 for updates.

Seth Woolley of Portland is in Newport today and will be making a Corvallis stop in his statewide campaign bike tour at about noon Tuesday, Sept. 18, at the Pacific Green Party’s campaign office at SE 3rd St. and Bridgeway Avenue. The public is invited to attend.

Woolley, the Pacific Green Party's candidate for secretary of state, is intending to visit every county in Oregon to meet with voters, elected officials, and the press in the course of the 30-day journey. He expects his trip from Newport to take about four hours.

Woolley is campaigning on a platform that seeks to promote healthier native forests, real election reform, and better, transparent auditing.

With all the energy Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros brought to the McDonald Theatre Sept. 12, it’s a wonder the place didn’t burst into flames. The 12-member act kept the audience electrified until the last note, letting the audience pick songs when the Zeros finished their set list and the McDonald stage was still theirs for a moment. Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos shared some great chemistry together as artists and with the audience, and the tightness of the ensemble’s individual players live — not just in the studio — was a feat with so many instruments. — Shannon Finnell

A public memorial is being planned, and will be announced at a later date. HIs family is directing his fans and friends to CaringBridge (www.caringbridge.org/visit/oboaddy) to leave messages, photos and memories, which will be shared with Addy’s family (note: a free account must be set up to access the site). The family has also set up a page on www.indiegogo.com/oboaddy to help raise funds for costs related to his illness and funeral expenses.

Addy played music to the very end, joining with family, friends and musicians from throughout his life for a few last jam sessions in his final days. He passed away with music filling his ears.

Born Jan, 15, 1936 in Accra, the capital of Ghana, Addy was one of 55 children of Jacob Kpani Addy, a medicine man who integrated rhythmic music into healing and other rituals. Addy was designated by his tribe as a master drummer by the age of 6.

Addy's earliest musical influence was the traditional music of the Ga people, but he was also influenced as an adolescent by popular music from Europe and the U.S. He got his professional start in Ghana by playing with the Joe Kelly Band, the Ghana Broadcasting Band, and the Farmer’s Council Band, which played popular American and European music and the dance music of Ghana known as highlife.

The Arts Council of Ghana as a Ga master hired Addy in 1969, and he received his first international exposure at the Munich Summer Olympics in 1972. He then move to London and spent six years touring internationally until 1978, when he relocated to Portland. There he met and married his wife, Susan, who began managing his musical career.

A vigorous supporter of world music, Addy was extremely active in bringing that style of music to Portland and Oregon. He maintained two different ensembles: Okropong, which shares traditional instrumentation, using hand and stick drums, bells, and shakers to create a layered rhythmic effect; and Kukrudu, an eight-piece African jazz group that relies on a mix of European and African instruments.

Through numerous in-school residencies, performances and workshops, Addy affected hundreds of thousands of lives in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Addy’s charismatic spirit, rapid-fire hands, and powerful voice led him to receive the National Heritage Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts under President Bill Clinton, the Governors Award for the Arts in Oregon, The Masters Fellowship from the Regional Arts and Culture Council and the Masters Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission.

He was a member of the faculty at Lewis & Clark College, and the artistic director of the Obo Addy Legacy Project, formerly known as the Homowo African Arts and Cultures, a not-for-profit organization founded by the Addys in 1986 as a virtual cultural center with offerings in schools, parks, community centers and performance venues all over the country. The organization put on an annual Homowo Festival in Portland for nearly 15 years with music and dance, food, vendors and art demonstrations from various countries within the continent of Africa and the African Diaspora.